Computer implemented methods and apparatus for retrieving content related to a feed item of an online social network

• US 10,114,873 B2
• Filed: 04/16/2014
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Naidu, Kaushick
• Primary Examiner(s): Gofman, Alex
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mian, Umar
• Application Number:
  US14/254,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20140317142A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,658 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques

Abstract

Disclosed are methods, apparatus, systems, and computer-readable storage media for retrieving content related to a feed item of an online social network. In some implementations, a computing device receives a feed item to be displayed in a feed associated with a first user of an online social network. The computing device identifies, in the received feed item, a first tagged keyword comprising a first tag and a first keyword and identifies one or more data sources based on the first tag. The computing device retrieves, from the one or more data sources, a plurality of content records related to the first keyword and selects a content record of the plurality of content records. The computing device automatically generates an information update associated with the feed item, the information update including content information of the selected content record, the information update capable of being displayed in association with the feed.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a database system implemented using a server system comprising one or more processors, the database system configurable to cause;

processing a post shared by a user of an online social network in a feed of the online social network, the post comprising textual content and being identifiable through one or more objects stored in a database, the feed being displayable in a user interface on a display device, the processing of the post comprising;

identifying a first keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by a first tag to define a first tagged keyword,

identifying a first data source specified by the first tag, the first data source being external to the database system,

identifying a second keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by the first tag or a second tag to define a second tagged keyword, and

identifying a second data source specified by the first tag or the second tag, the second data source being different from the first data source and being external to the database system;

requesting a first search of the first data source using the first keyword;

requesting a second search of the second data source using the second keyword; and

processing a plurality of content records identified by the searches, the processing of the content records comprising;

selecting one or more of the content records as satisfying criteria specifying one or more of;

a visibility of a content record, a relevance of a content record, a designated data source for a content record, a type of a content record, an action to perform in association with a content record, or a time range for an action to be performed in association with a content record, and

responsive to selecting the one or more content records as satisfying the criteria, automatically generating and sharing in the feed a comment on the post, the comment comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected one or more content records;

selecting a further content record in accordance with further criteria, the further criteria being configurable using a settings interface;

automatically generating and sharing in the feed one or more further comments on the post, the one or more further comments comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected further content record; and

automatically generating, using one or more heuristics, a feed tracked update associated with the selected further content record.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data sources comprise one or more of:

an online social network, a website, a blog, an article, a database record, a document, a feed, a feed item, a user profile, a group profile, a web search aggregator, or an access controlled application programming interface (API).

3. The system of claim 1, the database system further configurable to cause:

determining, based on the first tag, that it is permissible to search first data source for content.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein a workflow rule specifies one or more of:

types of content records, data sources to use, data sources not to use, actions to perform, or time ranges.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the comment further comprises one or more links to the selected one or more content records.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the comment further comprises a summary of the selected one or more content records.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the display device is one of:

a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet, a wearable display device, a desktop computer, or a monitor.

8. A method comprising:

processing a post shared by a user of an online social network in a feed of the online social network, the post comprising textual content and being identifiable through one or more objects stored in a database, the feed being displayable in a user interface on a display device, the processing of the post comprising;

identifying a first keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by a first tag to define a first tagged keyword,

identifying a first data source specified by the first tag, the first data source being external to a database system,

identifying a second keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by the first tag or a second tag to define a second tagged keyword, and

identifying a second data source specified by the first tag or the second tag, the second data source being different from the first data source and being external to the database system;

requesting a first search of the first data source using the first keyword;

requesting a second search of the second data source using the second keyword; and

processing a plurality of content records identified by the searches, the processing of the content records comprising;

selecting one or more of the content records as satisfying criteria specifying one or more of;

a visibility of a content record, a relevance of a content record, a designated data source for a content record, a type of a content record, an action to perform in association with a content record, or a time range for an action to be performed in association with a content record, and

responsive to selecting the one or more content records as satisfying the criteria, automatically generating and sharing in the feed a comment on the post, the comment comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected one or more content records;

selecting a further content record in accordance with further criteria, the further criteria being configurable using a settings interface;

automatically generating and sharing in the feed one or more further comments on the post, the one or more further comments comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected further content record; and

automatically generating, using one or more heuristics, a feed tracked update associated with the selected further content record.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining, based on the first tag, that it is permissible to search the first data source for content.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein a workflow rule specifies one or more of:

types of content records, data sources to use, data sources not to use, actions to perform, or time ranges.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the comment further comprises one or more links to the selected one or more content records.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the comment further comprises a summary of the selected one or more content records.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program code executable by one or more processors, the program code comprising instructions configurable to cause:

processing a post shared by a user of an online social network in a feed of the online social network, the post comprising textual content and being identifiable through one or more objects stored in a database, the feed being displayable in a user interface on a display device, the processing of the post comprising;

identifying a first keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by a first tag to define a first tagged keyword,

identifying a first data source specified by the first tag, the first data source being external to a database system,

identifying a second keyword of the textual content of the post as being preceded by the first tag or a second tag to define a second tagged keyword, and

identifying a second data source specified by the first tag or the second tag, the second data source being different from the first data source and being external to the database system;

requesting a first search of the first data source using the first keyword;

requesting a second search of the second data source using the second keyword; and

processing a plurality of content records identified by the searches, the processing of the content records comprising;

selecting one or more of the content records as satisfying criteria specifying one or more of;

a visibility of a content record, a relevance of a content record, a designated data source for a content record, a type of a content record, an action to perform in association with a content record, or a time range for an action to be performed in association with a content record, and

responsive to selecting the one or more content records as satisfying the criteria, automatically generating and sharing in the feed a comment on the post, the comment comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected one or more content records;

selecting a further content record in accordance with further criteria, the further criteria being configurable using a settings interface;

automatically generating and sharing in the feed one or more further comments on the post, the one or more further comments comprising at least a portion of record content of the selected further content record; and

automatically generating, using one or more heuristics, a feed tracked update associated with the selected further content record.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, the instructions further configurable to cause:

determining, based on the first tag, that it is permissible to search the first data source for content.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein a workflow rule specifies one or more of:

types of content records, data sources to use, data sources not to use, actions to perform, or time ranges.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the comment further comprises one or more links to the selected one or more content records.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the comment further comprises a summary of the selected one or more content records.